A little fish came to the wise old big fish with a question that was troubling him. ”Okay,” he said, ”I understand sand. I can see it below me. I know about rocks, and how to hide among them. And I know what plants are. But where’s this ocean everybody’s always talking about?”

Because the fish was in the ocean, and a part of it, he had no awareness of the water in and around him. I remember being surprised at the stillness around me the first time I went up in a hot air balloon. There was a breeze – there had to be, or we wouldn’t have been able to move sideways. Yet there was no sensation of air moving around us. Like the fish not being able to sense the water, we had become one with the moving air.

If that little fish had somehow managed to jump out of the water, he would very quickly have recognized what he was missing. He would not survive very long out of his native element. He was created to breathe underwater.

Do you ever have days, or longer periods of time, where you feel like a fish out of water, gasping to catch your spiritual breath? This happens to me when I miss my quality time with God in the morning. Oh, I may spend time “in the chair,” but I realize my thoughts haven’t been focused on God. My attitude is “off.” I feel out of touch. Things I usually enjoy have become a struggle.

I know God’s presence hasn’t left me. He has promised He will never leave me or forsake me (Hebrews 13:5). He is the same yesterday today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Though I know this, I feel unable to perceive His presence. I’m like that little fish: where is this presence of God everyone is talking about?

Of course, recognizing there’s a problem is the first step in solving it, so once I realize I’m not experiencing the fullness of joy that comes with really being present with Him (Psalm 16:11), the next step is to readjust my thinking. I talk to God about my bouncing thoughts. I compel myself to focus by reading the Bible out loud instead of to myself. I make sure to take moments throughout the day to realign my thoughts with the Word of God. Sometimes I stick post-it notes with verses where I’ll be sure to see them.

When I’m trying to focus on God, distracting thoughts are almost certain to intrude. They may be good thoughts, useful thoughts, reminders of things I need to do, or even ideas for writing topics. But at the moment they’re distractions. Instead of worrying that I’ll forget them, I jot them down to take care of later and get right back to focusing on God.

How comforting to find myself once again swimming freely through my activities, enjoying each thing as I do it. I love the assurance that God’s goodness and mercy are following me (Psalm 23:6), and I am right where he wants me to be – “back in the water.”

Be sociable. Share!

Recently I hosted some friends, Pete and Lauren Snyder, missionaries from China. Whenever they come to the US, I look forward eagerly to their visit. The last couple of years they were only able to stay one night, and most of our time together was taken up with driving from one place to another and going to a speaking venue for the evening, leaving us very little time to just hang out. But this year they were coming for two nights.

I was really excited because although the first day and night would be like the two previous years, the following day and evening we would get more “down time” together. I enjoyed laying in a supply of snacks and planning things we might do. Then, sometime between our last set of emails about dates and times and the day I went to pick them up, unknown to me, their plans had changed and I learned it was going to be more like the last two years. I was disappointed, but was very thankful for the time we did spend together, and we had a great time.

As I was getting dressed the morning after hearing the disappointing news, I began to remember some of the times – too many, I’m embarrassed to say – when I would make plans to chill and hang out with God and then life would happen, or I would get caught up in something on the computer, or my “just checking in” on Facebook swallowed up a whole hour before I knew it.

Suddenly I realized how God must feel when the time I had planned to spend with Him didn’t come to pass. And I’ll never know about all the special things He might have been planning to share with me if I had spent that time in His presence. I made a new commitment not to let other things pulled me away from time I had planned to spend with God. “In His presence is fullness of joy; at his right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). I don’t want to miss out on that!